Sands Event Center declares first year a success

Concert venue benefited from casino and Live Nation entertainment company.

Alternative rock band Incubus launched what turned out to be a successful… (MICHAEL KUBEL, THE MORNING…)

May 25, 2013|By John J. Moser, Of The Morning Call

It wasn't the scale of the Sands Bethlehem Event Center's first act — alternative rock band Incubus — or the 3,500 people the nearly sold-out show attracted that had co-owner Tom Schantz pumped up when the venue opened last May.

It was the anticipation of what was to come from the center's setup in the Lehigh Valley and its association with Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, the world's largest gaming company, and Live Nation, the world's leading live entertainment company.

"All I've got to say is, let's get this party started," Schantz declared as the center launched what it's calling a model for success.

As the venue completes a month of first-year anniversary celebrations Monday with a free concert by reggae group The Wailers and an accompanying Memorial Day picnic, its founders say it has achieved most of what they said it would.

In its first year, the center has brought big shows at an unprecedented pace, with more than 100 concerts, comedy acts and other performances.

Operating just seven months in 2012, it drew 67,059 people to its events — ranking it among the Top 100 busiest theater-sized venues in the world last year, according to industry publication Pollstar. That pace over an entire year would have made it one of the Top 30 busiest clubs worldwide.

There have been adjustments: Renovations were made after five months to add sound-absorbent panels to the inside walls and vinyl composition tile to the floor to improve the venue's sound.

And changes: The center pulled back from the original high-end nightclub concept of its Vision Bar, rebranding it as more of a typical nightclub. A plan for the club to operate as a restaurant during daytime hours has not materialized.

But owners say Sands Bethlehem Event Center has become what they envisioned.

"We've had a lot of ups and downs, but overall, I think it's fantastic," co-owner Jeff Trainer said. "We had this neat little dream. It's great to see it unfold."

Right connections

The center, which seats about 2,250 and can accommodate a standing crowd of about 3,500, owes a lot to its affiliations with Live Nation and the Sands, whose Bethlehem casino is attached to the venue.

The Sands' name recognition and Live Nation's booking power helped the center bring in big names much faster than a new venue typically could, said Jerry Deifer Jr., a former partner in Vision Entertainment Group, which was founded to build the center.

"The efforts that Sands casino put in and Live Nation put in allowed us to build a reputation very quick, which brought us some of the bigger acts you're seeing now that usually take a venue two or three years to develop — without paying beyond market value," Deifer said.

Along with the acts on Pollstar's Top 200 list, the center drew crowds with the Backstreet Boys on New Year's Eve, then this month celebrated its anniversary with country band Alabama, comedian Chris Tucker and a two-night stand by Motley Crue.

Live Nation has proved pivotal in getting those and other acts, such as the Beach Boys, which many other venues wanted, Trainer said.

"What they promised us in the beginning, and what we promised the public, they were able to deliver," he said.

Geoff Gordon, Live Nation Philadelphia regional president, said when the venue was announced in 2011 that acts would be routed from Philadelphia to the Lehigh Valley, much as they are from Philadelphia to Camden or Atlantic City.

That has continued to happen. For example, boy-band The Wanted will play at Atlantic City's Borgata Event Center the day before its Aug. 24 concert at the Sands Event Center.

Gordon remains high on the event center and says its spring and summer lineup — from Tony Bennett to Motley Crue, from Willie Nelson to Steely Dan — "says it all."

"This is world-class venue that attracts world-class talent."

Trainer said the event center is a natural channel for casino customers: People who visit the casino and its hotel often want a night of entertainment as well. The Sands also buys tickets that it offers to customers as incentives.

In addition, the event center is promoted on casino billboards in the New York and Philadelphia region, Trainer said. "Instead of just saying, 'Come to the casino,' it's saying, 'Come see Steely Dan at the casino,'" he said.

Deifer, who left his position with Vision Entertainment Group in April, said the center's online tickets sales typically have included purchases from people in New York, northern New Jersey and Harrisburg — many of whom have indicated they are first-time visitors to the Lehigh Valley.